And so the tale begins.... Why_I_Love_Meezers.StoryMeezer [Stories@meezer.com]
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Having trouble converting from Word...soon to come!Annie Bert [abert@tc3net.com]
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Why I Love Meezers

We had had plenty of kitty-kats as I was growing up, somehow we specialized in white cats. I was the cat warmer in our house, the cat nurse and the cat defender in a farm family where cats were considered expendable. During college and into marriage, kitties disappeared from my life and I becameÖ.egad, whodathunkitÖ.A Dog Lover. I would suffer from this limiting ailment until 1979.
Back in the summer of 1979, I was a ranger for Michigan Department of Natural Resources working on at a park on the Lake Erie shore. One day a hearing-impaired couple from Florida came into our campground with their beautiful Siamese cat couple Sheba and Samson. The kitties were gorgeous, chatty, apple-head seal points who charmed everyone. Well, to make a long story short, one night Sheba slipped out for a stroll along the beach and refused to come home. The mom and dad were desolate and stayed for five extra days searching along with the more sympathetic rangers for their lost girl. But soon, they would have to leave. I told them that I would search for her and call them when I found her. And this is how I fell in love with Siamese.
Sheba had an intelligence and yes, wit about her that I would learn to admire. She would talk to me from amidst cattail reeds in the swamps, from underneath travel trailers, from trees, but would always be just beyond my reach. I would put out cans of Friskies Turkey and Giblets (her favorite) and talk to her by the hour as she hid in her leafy bowers for three weeks. I rented humane traps and put them in her now well-worn paths. It was many a yukky muskrat, opposum, rat-rat and stinky skunks these traps yielded up, but no Ms. Sheba.
Then one night, a walleye fisherman told me that he had a solution; he would fry up some walleye, I could put it in a humane trap and put it under his trailer and the cat would walk right in, unable to pass up fresh walleye. And so she did just what he said, walked right in. I took my car over to the trailer and took her home with me, securing all doors and windows at every juncture, not wanting to lose this precious cat cargo. I called her mom and dad's hearing parents in Toronto and told them the good news and prepared Sheba for her pick-up and trip to Canada the next day. I was advised that she was fond of Carnation evaporated milk, so I popped open a can, poured some in a small bowl and put it on my lap. Sheba came to me like a long lost friend and lapped up the milk and so in her ultimate trust and surrender, my heart was lost to these noisy, blue-eyed cats forever.
In 1980, I would get my first Siamese kitten, Anjin, an apple-headed seal point. A few months later, he was followed by the adoption of Marsa , a one year-old wedgy-headed blue point. Angina would come to a tragic end when my mom, who was visiting us, accidentally let him outside and Anjin ran into the street and was killed when he was just a year and a half old. Marsa stayed with me, the most faithful cat friend imaginable for 18 years. Two years ago, after having breast cancers removed a couple of years before; Marsa fell ill with terminal cancer. Each Thanksgiving, it was a ritual where I would roast the turkey and Marsa would first smell it and come and tell me with her loudest and most full of turkey-anticipation voice, that was Turkey Day at last! For some reason in early November when Marsa was feeling a little punk, I bought a turkey leg at the grocer's and roasted it for her. She rose to the occasion and made me laugh all over again just as she had all those other turkey times. I was always glad that I bought that turkey leg, because it would be the last food she would ever feel like eating.
Marsa's long-time life partner, Ninja came to us in 1983 as a wee little lilac point, applehead babe. Marsa, a one-time mom before she came to us, dry nursed him until her little nips were raw. By golly, she loved her baby boy. Ninnie, Mr. Nin, or Mr. Applehead as he was known, was known far and wide as a personality cat. He was a loverboy of immense proportions and a watchcat and nannycat too. When I brought my infant son home, I put the baby carrier down and Ninnie went to the feet of the resting baby and decided like Marsa before him, that this was his kitten. I am so glad that my son, now four had the opportunity to meet these wonderful cat friends. And for me, it was somehow important for me to show my kitten to my old friends. They shared so much life with me, went on so many travels, shared sunny days and dark days with me that I developed an awareness of their cat souls. I count myself lucky for having known them.
Last summer Ninja took ill with an intractable sinus infection that rendered him quite ill. I administered daily IV's, subcu antibiotics (used to be a nurse and a vet tech) and tried the thing with the turkey baby food and the hi-cal supplements for three weeks but after consulting with the vet and then another vet, we decided that it was time for Ninnie to join Marsa.
This leaves us with Gaia, a neurotically shy sealpoint lady we adopted when she was two weeks old in 1992. I took her to school with me every day (now I'm an English teacher) and fed her little self whenever she called and cleaned her little bum. She is habituated only to me, but has acclimated to the Labrador Retriever we adopted last April. She still likes to keep her distance from the dog but can co-exist in the same room without travail. The other day I decided to "talk" to her the way Ninnie and Marsa used to talk to her; and knew for sure she was lonely for someone to talk to and play withAnnie Bert []
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Why I Love Meezers - The New Family

I applied to Siamese Rescue, but because I could not swear that I would never let my kitties go outdoors (we have a yard fortified by special fence and never lost a meezer, nor had one suffer from a meezer borne illness), so because they were going by stated policy, I was declined. I was pretty durned sad, because my heart called me to take a kitty who needed a home that longed for him or her and would love and care for them forever. Purchasing a kitty just didn't seem to fit with my current ethical slant on pets. So, I hit the on-line classifieds for SE Michigan newspapers and found two kitties who were being outed by a mean mama who wanted to teach her irresponsible kids a lesson by giving away their neglected pets. Mom was tired of picking up their slack and doing all the cat duties. She called me at 4:00 PM and we were at her house in three hours (150 miles away) to get the sweetest seal pont/applehead brother sister act you have ever met--Mr. Missy (from one of those misread gender identifications when he was a cat child) and Miz Whiska who used to be Whiskers, but it just had been done so many times before.
They now join Gaia who is beginning to come out of her shell. Gaia has learned how to sleep on my bed again and how to seek companionship from humans and (albeit reluctantly) the New Meezers. Their blue-eyed beauty and sweetness pierces my heart. Their patience and tenderness with my four year old inspires me to act the same. Their persistence and acceptance with/of my 17 year old calls me to greater love and patience here too. I love the sound of their funny, sometimes raucous voices, the kneading of their little brown feet on my soft tummy, their electric purrs and their Siamese smiles. There is something complete about the house again with a number of meezers underfoot. It is as though the good and gentle spirits of our late geezers guided the new ones here. Thank you Nin and Marsa!Annie Bert (AGAIN!) []
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This morning, just like every morning, I was petting Deckard while I had my morning coffee and mentally reviewed my Ďto-doí list. This is a little habit I have, each morning I try to take a few minutes to focus on what I did the day before and what needs my attention today. Well yesterday evening we had a meeting of the Pittsburgh No-Kill Committee and as I was thinking about some of the issues that we discussed and as usual my mind started to wonder. (This is a fairly common occurrence for me. Especially when I havenít gotten my full dose of caffeine yet. Talk about attention deficit disorder Ė LOL!) Anyway, I started thinking about how I got involved with the No-kill initiative and it became obvious that there is a very clear chain of events that have lead me to this point.

I was invited to join the Pittsburgh No-Kill committee as a result of my volunteer work with Animal Friends Shelter. I started volunteering at Animal Friends because they were so supportive of my efforts to help Siamese Rescue. I learned about Siamese Rescue when I became an active member of SICC. I started frequenting the SICC message boards when I was looking for a new kitten (Roy). I knew SICC existed because I had visited the site after doing a web search looking for information when Deckard was a desperately ill kitten. I got Deckard because I loved Siamese. I fell in love with the breed when I met Osiris the cat my then boyfriend/now husband Michael inherited from a former girlfriend.

I only had the privilege of knowing Osiris for a few short months. Unfortunately, he became very ill and had to leave for the Rainbow Bridge at a heartbreakingly young age. However, in those few months I got to share with him, he left paw prints in my heart and my life that will never vanish. He was my first introduction to the most wonderful breed of cats (just my humble opinion) and that introduction started me down a path that has definitely changed my life for the better.

I got Deckard and Roy because I wanted cats that have all those wonderful traits that Osiris displayed. They have brought me so much love and happiness, not to mention laughter, that I canít imagine a life without their warm little fur bodies next to mine. Because of them I joined SICC. There I made many wonderful friends and I learned about Siamese Rescue. Through the rescue my third baby, Spooky-Tyrell, entered our life. I canít begin to tell you how special this boy is. He went through so much before he was rescued and he looks and acts so happy now Ė sometimes just watching him I can feel my heart swelling up with so much love that it almost physically hurts.

Because of Siamese Rescue Iíve been able to help several meezers in need here in the Pittsburgh area. Nothing, absolutely nothing, makes me feel better then that. (Not only do I admire Siri, Charisse, and Tonja but I also envy them. I realize they have to deal with a lot of heartbreak and sorrow but I can only imagine the joy they must feel being able to help the incredible number of meezers that they do. Itís got to be better then any drug out there.) Because Iíve become so addicted to that high Iíve found other organizations (Animal Friends) and endeavors (making Pittsburgh a No-Kill city) that I can also help. I usually work a half day on Fridays and I then spend the afternoon socializing cats at the shelter. Let me tell you nothing relieves the tensions of a rough work week like holding a purring kitten or seeing a geezer stretching his legs obviously grateful to be out of his cage. Now, Iíve also got the dream of living in a city where every animal will find a home. I know weíve got a lot of work ahead of us but to make that dream come true Iím more then willing to bust my butt.

This all brings me back to Osiris. He was such a wonderful, loving, beautiful cat and that in itself would have been enough. However, he left behind a legacy that any person, much less a humble cat would be proud of. He has changed my life and made me a better, more compassionate person. Because of that I hopefully will be able to help save a few other animals. Who knows whoís life they will in turn impact and what legacies they will leave behind. So please, if you can spare a moment, send a warm thought to the big lover boy Osiris. I owe him so very much.Susan & the Rowdy Boys [sa_hill@mindspring.com]
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